Re: Orange stacks

On 7/12/2025 8:19 AM, David Entwistle wrote:
...

If I had a grocery store, I think I would stack oranges in a square-based
pyramid, but I assume that a triangular-based pyramid would lead to more
efficient packing. To what does the "74% of space" figure refer, square-
based, or triangular-based? I can't see that they would be the same thing,
but I could be wrong.
 Thanks,

If each orange (same size sphere) is packed so it touches 12 others, then the packing density is the same for the stackings you mentioned.  A cubic close packing and hexagonal close packing both have a density of pi/(3*sqrt(2)) (0.74048048...).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphere_packing
--
Carl G.
--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com